stressed

Weekly Medley #59/60/61

This has got to be a record for me, being the most belated weekly medley post as of yet, but in my defense I was exam writing and essaying, and quite honestly I was not going to put one of my rare moments of spare time to write quite possibly the dullest post ever – given the content. I’ve said it before: now that I’m done with my third year of university I kind of don’t know how to deal. This seemed like the best start somehow…

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  1. One rare moment of celebration (featuring alcohol) should be saying enough in itself, however I’ll elaborate: I actually socialized in a functional way and actually had fun plus there was actual documented photo evidence. I must say that the gin and tonic was divine.
  2. There’s something a wee bit off in this picture – perhaps the extreme amount of snow that we have in the middle of April? Although the infestation of snow is still present, I’m pleased to report that Spring is appearing to rear its head and we haven’t had any storms in ten days. Shocking.
  3. This image might strike you as familiar, however, I couldn’t help but repeat it. How else was I to depict the craziness over the last few weeks precisely?
  4. I might have bought The Sims 4 as a post-exam celebratory present and I also might have enjoyed binge-playing it throughout the last few days of spare time. It’s gooooood, especially if it’s also a nostalgic pastime.
  5. Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Natural Healthy Glow Powder Duo in 01 Clair-Brunettes, one of the substantial purchases from my relatively contained Sephora order, and let me tell you that it might just be worth the splurge! It’s subtle but adds the nicest warmth and kind of indescribable glow to the face. More on this and other items to come soon – heads up.
  6. Although I have not been particularly thrilled with my less than frequent posting schedule as of late, I have been satisfied with the posts that have gone up. This one titled “Some Recent Acquisitions” was among my favourites.
So any updates from the last three weeks?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #53/54

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Last weekend, I thought I had a firm plan to do my fifty third weekly catch-up post on Sunday afternoon but in my relatively chill and lazy state, I had decided that I might as well put it off a day. I was feeling absolutely wretched after all, suffering under the weight of my yearly terrible cold and all that it entailed – fatigue, wheezing, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, congestion and that horribly runny nose – so without a thought to the week ahead, piled with deadlines each and every day, I put it off. I had gone through the motions of promising myself to do it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and its only today that I have the time and relatively calm state of mind to put it all together. It has been a trying week and I’m fortunate to have survived and to have the reading week ahead off, even though I have a paper-ish thing due on Monday – a life-saving extension – and a good number of things due right after the break. Err, I’ll stop with the complaining…

Over the last almost-two-weeks, I can think of three items that I’ve been loving of the life-and-kind-of-beauty-related-variety: kleenex that does not rub your nose raw, the Eucerin Calming Daily Moisturizing Cream ($12.79) and my questionably old Clinique Superdefense Daily Defense Moisturizer SPF 20 ($51). The kleenex are an extremely obvious one given the cold situation and how weirdly sensitive my skin can get and the soothing and rich body cream is similarly obvious, as my skin is sensitive and extremely dry normally without a cold being added into the mix – the cream has the bonus of being pleasantly rich and soothing so that it does not irritate my sensitive skin with – you-guessed-it, eczema. The most interesting item out of the mix is my years old Clinique moisturizer that I’ve dug out again after losing it underneath my sink for a good six or eight months a few times. I’ve kind of forgot about the purchase years ago, motivated by the promise of a free gift and the chemical-sunscreen like pretty much all others, had irritated my sensitive skin in the past, especially when I was going through that rough patch of skin going on two years ago. I know, being in jar packaging especially, the SPF and the moisturizer in general should be long expired by now, but I have not noticed a smell/texture change, or any sort of adverse reaction on my skin so I’ve been giving the cream a go. I find I can avoid the irritation factor if I layer a soothing product (such as an oil etc.) underneath and with that addition, I’ve been enjoying applying this hydrating, illuminating and lightweight cream in the morning. I know the sun protection is really questionable but considering that it does not appear to have changed in any sort of way, I like to think that it’s a first step into getting sunscreen into my daily routine, no? By the way, I have the Dry Combination version that no longer exists but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Very Dry to Dry Combination offering is very similar, if not identical.

The (Bi)Weekly Link: Over the last little while I’ve been enjoying the beauty videos over on redheadphd’s beauty channel – in the real world, she goes by the name Lauren by the way and she’s the perfect balance of intelligent, humorous, beyond informative and calming, if you were wondering. I enjoyed her “January Favourites, Fails and ‘Fumes” tremendously. She does the best reviews period and I may or may not enjoy her use of alliteration…

The Shameless Self-Promotion: As a blogger, I’ve certainly viewed myself as quite a failure in the last week or so but I was rather proud of myself for getting my January Favourites up before too much of February went rolling by and I was rather pleased with how it turned out as well. Note: it is in fact over 1000 words long and concise by any means – oh well?

On an ending note, I did something shameful and as it tends to happen, it happened on a shopping trip with my good ol’ pal, Lauren, at Target because of the sad clearout sale that has been happening across Canada – I came out with a hundred dollars worth of stuff in my bag and bought a cringe worthy amount of lip products but if you want to hear about them you’ll have to stay tuned!

How was your last week or two?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #44/45

Recently Updated44So it may or may not be more than a wee bit after my last post in this series – I’ve been doing this for a year with impressive constancy (if you discount the last month or so) and am nearing my fiftieth post with frightening vigor. There might have been five to many adjectives in the last sentence but I’m stressed, exhausted and tend to overuse adjectives. Well, I’m more than pleased to say that it’s gotten nice and wintry around these parts and the constant rain has stopped with some snow being thrown into the mix. I’m afraid that I’m not quite as pleased to be less than a week from classes ending and the impending doom called the exam period starting. Things have been stressful and busy but the funny thing is that the deadlines were worse a few weeks ago. However, having a bit more time to write and agonize over my assignments and large research essays might not be all that great for my productivity and sanity. Still I’m not looking forward to next week when my papers all seem to be due extremely close together. Ackkkk.

In the last few days quality sleep hasn’t occurred at all and I’ve been more sleep deprived than usual. Evidence of this would be seen by my appearance in recent weeks that has not been masked with any sort of makeup all that often and perhaps has been washed a little less frequently than even I desire, giving quite the haystack appearance. Oddly enough, my skin hasn’t been freaking out and I’m convinced that that can only be chalked down to an effective and consistent skincare routine – expect something more on the skincare front soon. Anyways, one thing that I’ve been loving is my extreme binge-watching of The Originals in the last four days or so. I’m not exactly sure that it’s been conductive to productivity but considering that I have this nostalgia-driven duty to watch every episode of The Vampire Diaries ever to be aired, I figured it was time to start with the sister series. More often than not, I amaze myself with my ability to procrastinate in the most self-destructive way possible.

Continuing on the note of things that I’ve enjoyed, last weekend I went out for dinner with the family at Agricola Street Brasserie and although I really enjoyed my mash and sausage meal, the spicy margarita that I ordered was particularly noteworthy. It was rather strong in a tasty way and had a strong sense of lime along with the heat and less of that sugary sweetness that I don’t typically enjoy. At the end of last week, I also gave myself somewhat of a DIY manicure that I rather enjoyed for the five days that it lasted. The combination was all Essie, beginning with two coats of Bikini So Teeny on the nails as a base and then topped with a layer of the spectacular glitter, On A Silver Platter and the No Chips Ahead Top Coat.

I might as well start calling these bi-weekly medleys, I’m beginning to realize, but I digress. How are things around your parts?
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #41

Weekly Medley #41

Easily the most exciting moment of my week began with a conversation with my mother and it is worthy of note that this is not something that I find myself frequently thinking, let alone saying. I was talking her ear off about my makeup organization angst as I find myself doing rather frequently and apparently she had taken my words into account because she told me that she was making an Amazon order and wanted to know where to find the three-drawer unit that I’ve been wanting so she could add it to her order. I found it in seconds and although I haven’t received it yet, I am quite excited and I would expect a post sometime on what I store in each drawer in the not-altogether-distant future.

I can honestly say that as a university student in my third year – my, my time flies – that I’ve been the most bogged down with essays, readings, assignments and impending midterms this week (and the last one or two) that I have ever been outside of the formal exam period and I’m not stranger to the whole drowning in work phenomenon. This take home midterm-essay that I’ve been laboring over has been the death of me but I’m pleased to report that the end is now in sight. However, my thought that I could catch up on the slack on posts this week might have been absolutely insane and this is why there weren’t so many posts throughout the week itself. In order to combat my growing anxiety in a non-pharmaceutical way and boost my productivity, Bath & Body Works candles have been a godsend. Earlier this week, I had burned up two of my three mini-candles that I had on rotation, Wasabi Apple and Pumpkin Caramel Latte and so I had been thinking about picking up a candle or two in the near future and this plan solidified when I randomly found a $10 dollars off coupon that was about to expire. On Friday, I ventured into Bath & Body Works to pick up a full on size of the Flannel candle that I have been loving and was pleased to see that they had their candle promotion on but immediately saddened to find out that they seem to have gotten rid of the scent in question. I got over my shock quickly and found myself at the till with the cult-favourite Mahogany Teakwood 3-Wick Candle along with the divine Spiced Apple Toddy 3-Wick Candle. I’ve been burning both and enjoying them tremendously while reaping the stress-relief and productivity benefits without any complaints and I didn’t even spend a sum of money that makes me feel shameful in the process.

On the blogging note, as mentioned above, I probably should not feel guilty over the limited number of posts that graced the blog within the last week considering just how hectic things are. However, I slacked during the weekdays, only posting two in the span of the week (on Monday and Friday) and considering that I’ve been pretty inspired as of late, I want to attempt to get up three within the next work/school week that are hopefully less spread out apart than these. With all that aside, there were four blog posts published this week (including this one) that I feel pleased about across the board – though yesterday’s Sweater Weather Tag Post holds its firm place as my favourite.

I’m bubbling with ideas for posts so keep you eyes peeled but there is that matter of all my other responsibilities and the fact that I really should sleep. I’m afraid that I’ve been slacking on the makeup wearing front and I hope to have a few interesting things to share when I experiment again and to keep things up with my hair when I’ve been fairly happy with it and it’s been down and not a tangly mess. There will be a hair-related post in the near future, so if you’re interested keep stay close.
Was your week anything like mine? If it was, I express my deepest sympathies…
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #35

oR9A9%iBQxqpAoYQsSZC+w21. The perfect escape from business as usual and that general craziness…. pouring through the pages of October’s phenomenal Elle Canada while drinking a cup of apple-cinnamon tea is amaaaaaazing.

2. Skincare-centric posting … I’m pleased to report that my skin has been pretty in control for a while now and I wanted to talk about the newer products that I’ve brought into the rotation and I did HERE.

3. Getting my reviewing game on … Beginning with this week’s post on the NARS Contour Blush HERE, I’ve been geting back into the routine of individual product review posts and I’m kind of liking it.

4. The crappy quality picture of my face… Do I even need to explain this? That aside, the Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Lady Marmalade had to be mentioned for being all comfortable and balmy but also managing to last for ages on top. I really enjoyed the shade, too; it’s a coral. Shocker.

5. A perfumed body cream worthy of praise… You’ve caught me, this photo is not actually from a post within the last week or so, but I’ve realized my love for the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream this week. It smells like an authentic zesty margarita and actually moisturizes like a champ too. If only it wasn’t irritating on the chronic leg eczema situation…

6. When all else fails, play The Sims … There’s something so comforting about playing The Sims as you’re too stressed to even think about tackling anything on your growing to-do list – but then there’s always that sad moment when you’re living vicariously through a simulation of your self. Alas.

Huh. I suppose this is going to be one of the shorter posts of this variety (and maybe any) by me and that would be because as I’ve been tackling my lovely little cold, it appears that full fledged heavy term-work has come over me and threatened to make me crash and burn. I might be being a little dramatic here but honestly work has been piling up and it’s at that point where I may actually have a breakdown if I don’t get to work on things so I need to get a move on in the sphere of non-beauty or blogging related things. As I write this, I’m afraid that I must return (yet again) to the books and word processors.

How was your week?

Maggie, x.

The Weekend Post | The Productive Pamper

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I’m convinced that there is a reason that we all — in the blogosphere — seem to find ourselves writing posts on the ideal pamper on a frequent basis, in a way that veers towards the obsessive and that said reason is not a lack of originality; there’s something about the power of a pamper, that makes our hectic daily lives a little more relaxed and manageable, I reckon. I have far too much on my growing agenda to abondon in the aim of merely giving myself a little bit of indulgence, however, so I find myself loving the routine of a scaled-down pamper with some productivity thrown in. Now, I’m not necessarily one to look towards for organization inspiration, though. I’m just overcoming my previous status as organizationally impaired.

One. Break down and the list into smaller achievable tasks and write it down.

This seems so obvious but it’s not so simple and easily dismissible as it seems. I can’t even tell you how many times I rolled my eyes when authority figures preached this at me in my earlier school years and while they presented it in the most irritating patronizing manner, they were right in a sense. It’s much easier to get things done when you actually identify what realistically can be accomplished in the time quota and the smaller individual parts that the tasks require. I’m aware of how difficult it can be at first to actually look at what has to get done without making yourself instantly nauseous or panicked.

Two. Gather your tools and edit out the rest.

I’m not someone who has a naturally organized disposition so this was not something that I believed in, in the past but a clutter-free space actually appears to make a difference. I do have to make the effort, forcing myself to get up and choose the necessary items for the whole ordeal and then clean out all of the extras without becoming distracted within he process. It’s not particularly fun — at all — but the tidy-up is a worthy step nonetheless. I’ll get out the books that I have readings that I must get through, my notes if I’m working on some sort of assignment and perhaps my blogging notebook, for example.

Three. Set up the pamper-y atmosphere.

With the previous step down, this one should be a breeze. The whole pampering experience seems to me to be synonymous with the zen-like state and ease that lounging with your feet in the bath, whilst wearing the most luxurious bathrobe and while I wouldn’t go that far on a typical Sunday not-funday, I try to emulate the spa-like experience. I would go for some of the most comfortable and cozy glorified sweatpants-and-a-hoodie combo, embrace the cliche and light a scented candle, with a magazine and cozy blanket within sight.

Four. Work a face mask into the routine and add full-on body cream slather into the mix.

Obviously, the pamper requires pamper products and with productivity in mind, it only makes sense to go for a duo (or trio) of products that bring on that pampered feeling with minimal time and effort while making the whole task of getting stuff done a little bit more enticing. So, I normally would go for a mask but I didn’t because my skin is like the sahara desert at the moment — but I normally would. Instead, I went for the fruit-acid containing Indeed Laboratories Facial Powdered Exfoliator ($30) that once mixed with water forms a milky foam that instantly brightens and perks up the skin without adding to the dryness situation or further irritating the skin. Unless you have such irritated skin that body moisturization is a necessity or you are obsessed with the whole experience, you likely aren’t someone who religiously finds themsleves slathering on the lotion twice daily but just going for this indulgent experience can be a breath of fresh air, while being bundled in the most cozy blanket, of course. I use a separate cream on my lower legs on account of my irritated eczema there and this cream is the lovely La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP ($30) . For the rest of my body, I’ll go for my new Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream ($20) that I adore because it smells like the most appealing zesty margarita and has the most luxurious creamy texture.

Five. Tidy up the nails and whatever that entails.

I may be someone who spent the majority of her life away from that whole mani-pedi nail-painting game but I do recognize the power of having simply tidied nails, whether they are polished or not. Although the whole nail-doing task takes an embarrassing amount of effort for me, the process seems to be tremendously calming on the psyche, whether or not you go for the whole ordeal or are just bringing your nails into tip-top shape with a coat of clear polish on top. The whole upkeep situation has been almost too much for me lately but I’m undecided as to whether I’ll forgo the manicure or not…

Happy (or-not-so-Happy) Sunday!
Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #14

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(1) the book o’ blogging and my knee out in the sun on Saturday (2) me out in the sun on Saturday (3) photo evidence of my Spring Makeup Update post (4) the MAC lipstick in action (5) the obligatory pre-leaving selfie (6) MAC Sweet & Sour, the lipstick love (7) the skincare and book loves

This week wasn’t so fun until Thursday, I’ll assure you, but that’s to be expected with the whole exam situation from hell. Since finishing I’ve felt so odd — like there must be another essay to write and exam to torture myself over — but not so odd in the sense that would lead one to become an actual responsible human being and get right into that cleaning and organizing thing that goes along with that whole notion of normalcy where you earn money by acquiring an actual job. I was not that desperate to lose the strangeness of it all.

The weather has been nice, sunny and in the temperate twenties this week with a few cool and muggy days in between, however that’s to be expected when you live on the east coast. Yesterday, I casually wore short shorts if that is any indication. And I’ve spent hours lounging outdoors, relaxing and writing in the book o’ blogging and this has to be among the best things ever — up there with delicious lattes when you’re dead on your feet and stressed out of your mind.

Because my family is not big on the sweets and we all have a tendency towards abundant food sensitivities, we tend to both give and receive more substantial gifts for Easter and one of the substantial gifts this year was the book written by Helen Oyeyemi titled, Boy, Snow, Bird and let me assure you that it was fantastic. And I’m very picky about granting praise to reading materials. I know this should have technically fallen under the umbrella of last week’s post but I didn’t actually finish this until the beginning of this week and it was all kinds of crazy, so forgive me. I’m sure my mother’s intention in giving me this present was to enjoy reading a book for actual fun after my exams were finished but somehow in my groggy zombie-like state, I decided to finish it all on Monday night when I should have been writing the essay from hell. But the book was fantastic in itself, not just as procrastination material, I might add. It’s one of those rare five-star books and its written from three interwoven perspectives, intensely psychological and thrilling while also dealing with important issues (race, appearance, etc.) in an interesting and non-cliched manner.

Beauty-wise, my fixation was directed towards the skincare front. This is probably related to the horrendous stress-induced breakout along my chin and jaw that appeared in all of its painful-underneath-the-skin blemish glory. Thankfully, I had the sense to not try to murder it, drying it out and all that jazz, but rather took the more effective soothing route of going heavy on the BHA exfoliants of the Neutrogena and Clinique gentle variety and adding in more healing rosehip oil than usual. I’m pleased to say that there’s but one active blemish left on my face as of now and my severely easily irritated skin has not exhibited any signs of seeking vengeance yet.

On Wednesday as a treat upon finishing exams and all, I picked up a few things of the beauty variety and fell in love with one or two of them and one of which was the MAC Sweet & Sour Lipstick that was recently made permanent. I’ve been wearing the muted corally-orange shade nonstop. It’s a cremesheen so it doesn’t do my dry lips any favours but the shade makes it worthwhile so I can’t really bring myself to care.

Finally to sit down and breathe, I was able to do that thing where you go out and celebrate –the reason for celebration was my long-time friends birthday and it was nice to go out for a change. It was also surprisingly pleasant to write up a few posts that I’ve been wanting to put up for ages, such as the Spring Makeup Update post…

How was your week?

Maggie, x.

Weekly Medley #13

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(1) makes more sense with second image – pleased with overall skin despite the hidden few cystic bumps that just emerged as a result of exams… (2) I’ve been really into skincare lately so naturally I was obsessed with the ‘Top 10 Skincare’ video that my favourites, Amelia Liana and Hello October’s Suzie did together (3) the Easter face (4) the corresponding product picture (5) it was warm enough to wear a sundress – erase the boob situation complications pleasee (6) the product discovery (7) the evidence of the greatness of this month’s Elle Canada (8) that drugstore essentials post that somehow happened

So this week went as expected. Monday was just as insane as I had expected, filled with the chaos of having two term papers due and delivering them online and in person, rushing around to the library to return and take out the mandatory books, hurrying to attend the study session for Psychology, cramming for the nights exam without success and writing my first exam. Much of the week was the same but slightly slowed down perhaps; with something major almost every day with no sort of real break in between. The exception was Thursday, a day of studying that should have left me confident for the night’s exam but the whole knowing that I had to write essays with actual evidence and the like, left me a nauseous nervous wreck — I even went in to the exam with my sweater on inside out but I couldn’t find it in my to care about it. Well, I’m pleased to report that now on Monday I’m nearing the ends of thing — things being this exam period from hell –, with four exams down and two final papers submitted, only today’s essay exam (yikes) and Wednesday’s paper left to go. I think I’ll survive today but the whole paper situation is questionable. I’m sure I’ll keep you updated on the essay front, explicitly or implicitly here.

Reading blog posts and watching videos of the same nature serve as that much-needed enticing escape from the whole endless stress shebang and one that stood out for me was Suzie from Hello October’s collaboration video with Amelia Liana of Liana-Beauty titled “Top Ten Skincare Favourites“. The two are among my absolute favourites to read and watch, entertaining while bringing helpful information and recommendation and genuine. And I’ve been especially into skincare lately and these two tend to be helpful for advice in the skincare realm because of our shared sensitivity traits. I’ve added their picks to the blogging notebook archives… And the selfie above is deceptive as you can’t see the two or three cystic spots on my cheeks that I only ever get during exam week (thankfully) that look quite angry, but otherwise the overall skin quality on the face has been rather good for me so I included the bare-face picture. I can’t really say more than that.

Now it’s time for me to shamelessly self-promote one of my blog posts of the week – and the blogpost in question is my “Drugstore (Makeup) Essentials #2“, which I must admit is rather lengthy but it’s actually quite concise, packed with information about some of my favourite makeup selection on a budget into one small relatively non-rambly post.

Although I’ve had this since I spotted it for a few dollars off on promotion at Shoppers Drugmart in the beginning portion of last month, I haven’t been able to be certain of my love for my newfound conditioner-mask-thing that costs well under $30 until recently. Said love is directed towards the OGX Sea Mineral Moisture Moisture Surge Deep Treatment. While being priced around the affordable ten dollars, the “deep treatment” – I would be more tempted to describe it as a rich regular conditioner but I do tend to go for deep treatments in the place of conditioners of the regular variety – actually nourishes the hair without requiring a ton of product and therefore giving hair this slippery feel and leaves it with nice texture and body with none of that tangly grittiness that tends to be associated with texture-boosting shampoos. And it smells absolutely delicious, suspiciously like Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray and nothing like that coconut-y beach smell that just doesn’t measure up. I feel compelled to state that it includes dimethicone high in the ingredients list, but isn’t all that silicone-y and despite the name it isn’t completely organic by any means but regardless, it’s my weekly product highlight.

I’m afraid that I must return to the books, despite the allure of trying to delude myself into thinking otherwise.

How was your week last week?

Maggie, x.

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Medley #12

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(1) Loving this overly-hyped blush from Hourglass (2) Sometimes I also have feelings for hair products, particularly when they work for my not super-curly but more-than-wavy-hair (3) Results of the hair-experiment featuring the DevaCurl Set It Up And Above (4) Coffee and I are in a committed relationship (5) Sometimes the weather acts like its springy self and I can wear flats without my feet turning blue (6) My day today… not unlike rest of the week (7) Hourglass Ethereal Glow in action… again, during said hair experiment

If you’ve glanced at just about any of my posts in the last week or two, I’m sure you’re well aware that that entity that we pretend is never going to exist called the exam period has begun. Monday was the last day of classes and it was a gorgeous day at that, then there were two spectacularly unproductive days “off” and thus the exam period officially begun and I survived my first exam. Well, I couldn’t write by hand until the next day but that’s kind of typical for these “short” essay exams…. So pretty much, I have one exam down and four to go but the more pressing matters seem to be this final research paper situation I have going on throughout the exam period. So, on Monday I have two research papers due and an exam later that night that I haven’t even thought about studying for yet. And two exams on Thursday that I’m only beginning to admit are actually happening. You may be wondering to yourself why I’m sitting here (on my bed if you’re curious) and writing this post when my time would clearly be best spent elsewhere, but blogging is good for the sanity of the soul and I’ve had a fortunately productive thirty-six hours – props to you, coffee.

I technically could have included one of my current obsessions, the luxurious-err-expensive Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Ethereal Glow ($41 CDN) in last week’s post as I picked it up last Thursday, motivated by the promise of free samples and all that jazz at Sephora but I had done a burst of drugstore shopping earlier in the week that I had thoughts on to mention here and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t just loving that shopping high that turns into buyer’s remorse and suddenly can turn into feelings of self-hatred. Being an English student, I should be horrified by my use of clauses in that last sentence but if I have to edit another sentence for clarity and whatnot, I may hurl my psychology textbook out through my window. But it’s a cool-toned blush that is actually really flattering on me, brightening the face without any sort of shimmer.

I’m sure many of you — and certainly if you have that wave/curl thing in your hair — have heard about that whole Curly-Girl shebang and although  I haven’t talked about it much on the blog here, – but have deliberated on it an exhausting number of times in the head – I am somewhat of a follower of the whole routine. If you’re interested in some actual description and mountains full of info on it, head on over to naturallycurly.com, as I frequently do. I have that kind of hair that is wavier than wavy hair but not quite curly in that ringlet sense with much tighter curls in the bottom half of my hair and the ends in general that refuse to do anything other than i’s naturally tangly mess limp-but-crazy thing. I have that kind of hair that is sort of fine in texture and therefore can hang kind of limply in sections but has an insane quantity of hair that cumulatively has its own mind and in the cooler seasons I tend to suffer from blahh hair, despite following sort-of following the method – I avoid sulfates and that has been amazing but I just limit my silicone use to the kind that are either water-soluble or don’t build up in the hair for the most part.  If you have hair like mine, I’m sure you’re aware of how finicky it can be with products but also that products are necessary. Yesterday morning, the inspiration struck me to actually address that birds nest on my head and wash it – my hair doesn’t need to be washed too frequently – and I did the whole shebang, scrunching my wet hair with some good old standard holding product (mousse but uninteresting) but then deciding to go for the DevaCurl Set It Up And Above ($27 CDN) paste that I’d had for a while and liked but wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about, twisting my hair into ringlets – I remember that technique being helpful before – with a good deal of the product and then pinning up the top sections of my hair to relieve the weight of the sections with bobby-pins, although duckbill clips would have been ideal. It wasn’t miraculous or anything but it resulted in the best hair I’ve had for ages and I’d but it down to the strange paste product and the whole routine. If you were curious, the chopped off portion in the picture above would show you how cute the upper portions of my hair looked while drying. My hair had actual life and texture to it even higher up in it. It was awesome. I hope this paragraph resembles some form of English but I can’t be too sure. Not sorry. Just annoyed at my typical self.

This week was that weird mix of wholly-unproductive days with days that reeked of productivity and somehow this resulted in six blog posts happening: last weeks post of this variety was late because I felt like I was dying last Sunday but I think that’s excusable and I did manage to type out five others…. (1) Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush review, (2) an ode to my fave limited-edition Color Tattoo, (3) the Liebster Award post (4) a review for the L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess and (5) my beauty-based guide for surviving this time of year.

How was your week?

Maggie, x.

P.S. Sorry for the longest ramble ever on hair without information actually being given……..

 

Finals Survival Guide

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I’m less than half-way into that lovely time full of general life crises, experimentation in sleep-deprivation, inescapable stress and way too much to actually complete with some semblance of sanity left. The time I’m referring to is finals, exams, and whatever you want to call all that jazz. Well, I thought I would put together a little post full of my staples (with some of my questionable humor injected of course) and reveal the pathetic level of joy I get from beauty products in my life even at a time such as this. I have a weird attitude towards makeup at times like these — I’m perfectly fine without wearing it but putting a wee time into a beauty routine can bring a much-needed break from studying, release you from the stress from your impending doom and superficially uplift your spirit from this kind of blah-ness. I may or may not have two final papers due on Monday as well as an exam that evening and this is some of how I plan to cope. When I say some, this is the good majority of it.

The Do-It-All Cream Shadow: So, you feel disgusting and need to escape but you don’t have the kind of attention or balance to effortlessly select some colours to turn into a miraculously defined eye and rather than putting yourself through all that faff you can go for one of these Maybelline Color Tattoosthat help with the whole creasing situation while simultaneously depositing some gorgeous albeit neutral colour. My picks are first and foremost the permanent bronzy-taupe Bad To The Bronze, but the limited-edition-but-still-around Nude Compliment with more of a satin finish and a lighter taupey colour had to be mentioned.

The Two Foolproof Lip Options:The first one is a no-brainer — you know that lipstick shade that doesn’t look like lipstick and makes you resemble a functional human being that can be safely applied in moving transportation — and without dedicating a single post to it, I’ve rambled on about my love for the sheer pinky-brown warm nudey MAC Patisseriemore than anyone should ever ramble on about a single product so you might not be surprised that it’s my choice here. It might be strange to label a bold lip offering as foolproof but there’s nothing more uplifting than a bold lip but the last thing one needs during this loveliness is to worry about the state of their lips, exfoliating and all that so I recon that an option that doesn’t emphasize lip weirdness and require care is necessary. Although it’s completely out of season to go for such a deep vampy red shade, the amplified creme formula is a dream for gliding over my poor irritated lips, I don’t even mind that I’m wearing MAC Dubonnet in April. See pictorial evidence below:

Caffeine and The Agenda:I’m naturally someone who would scoff at the idea of writing down what you have to get done and breaking it down day by day as being helpful or necessary in any shape or form but I’ve found in times like these it’s particularly helpful when you’re as organizationally impaired as me. Caffeine is essential but my ideal form is the latte and it serves two precious functions in my life: (1) it can help me actually be productive for a few hours on end and (2) it makes that whole not-sleeping thing a whole lot easier. Lattes taste good and provide that intense caffeine rush to boot.

Dry Shampoo and Micellar Water:I find it difficult to remember to wash my hair and put on clothes before leaving the house during my regular daily life so actually washing my hair is a challenge during times like these and a little dry shampoo is in order. It’s just a bonus that the Dove Invigorating Dry Shampoohappens to also add some much needed life to flat, limp hair. Washing my face is generally a little easier for me but when I’m in a zombie-state like this it can be impossibly difficult and this is where Bioderma Sensibio H20 comes in; I normally only use it to remove eye makeup but it also doubles as a way to wash your face without the effort of actually washing the face or having to go all the way to the bathroom.

The Effortless Foundation: I have sensitive skin but not the kind that breaks out easily but rather the kind that becomes easily irritated and this irritation grows exponentially when I’m under stress so foundation can go all kinds of awry especially when I don’t have time or energy to make a real effort. The solution to this is the undetectable but brightening Revlon Nearly Nakedthat requires minimal work but provides light-medium buildable coverage that never makes my skin look like a pastry.

The “I’m Alive” Blush:Although I do naturally have some redness in the cheeks (this has been much reduced with skincare though), my face looks dull and really could benefit from some blush. Despite my self-admitted frustration with those illuminating cooler-pink blushes, the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Ethereal Glow seems to add life to the face without any chance of blush craziness occurring.

The Does-It-All Healing Balm:In the past I may have underestimated the value of the ultra-soothing La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume due to sheer stupidity. Having skin that suffers from stubborn stress-induced irritation on both my face and body, the anti-bacterial rich but lightweight balm instantly soothes these patches everywhere from the face to my eczema-covered legs. And this is the best lip balm despite its unfavorable cream texture.

The Overnight Mask:While to be honest, during makeup-free days while trapped at home studying and essay writing myself off a cliff, I have worn the soothing The Body Shop Aloe Protective Restoring Mask throughout the day rather than just at night, this overnight moisture mask kind of thing is a godsend for stressed skin and is just plain relaxing to boot.

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What are your staples for times like these?

Maggie, x.